Replaceable sponge mop head

ABSTRACT

A UNIVERSAL REPLACEABLE SPONGE MOP HEAD INCLUDES A SPONGE BLOCK HAVING A RECTANGULAR BACKING PLATE CEMENTED TO FACE THEREOF. THE BACKING PLATE HAS INTEGRALLY FORMED THEREWITH A PAIR OF LONGITUDINALLY SPACED FASTENERS, EACH INCLUDING A PAIR OF SIMILAR TRANSVERSELY SPACED APERUTRED RESILIENT LEGS, PROVIDED WITH LONGITUDINAL RIDGES DIRECTED TOWARD EACH OTHER. LOCATING TABS PROJECT FROM THE BACKING PLATE REAR EDGE AND THE SIDE EDGES ARE MEDIALLY INWARDLY OFFSET FOR THE RECEPTION OF A TOOL. LONGITUDINALLY SPACED FASTENER RECEIVING APERTURES ARE MEDIALLY FORMED IN THE BACKING PLATE.

Nov 2, 1971 c. VAN sPRoNsEN 3,616,481

REPLACEABLE SPONGE MOP HEAD Filed Feb. 18. 1970 INVENTOR.

30 CORNELIS VAN sPRoNsEN www@ F i g. 3 www #fw/mf QSE- 3T United StatesPatent O 3,616,481 REPLACEABLE SPONGE MOP HEAD Cornelis van Spronsen,Berea, Ohio, assignor to Nylonge Corporation, Cuyahoga County, OhioFiled Feb. 18, 1970, Ser. No. 12,272 Int. Cl. A47l 13/16 U.S. Cl. 15-244R 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A universal replaceable sponge mophead includes a sponge block having a rectangular backing plate cementedto a face thereof. The backing plate has integrally formed therewith apair of longitudinally spaced fasteners, each including a pair ofsimilar transversely spaced apertured resilient legs, provided withlongitudinal ridges directed toward each other. Locating tabs projectfrom the backing plate rear edge -ancl the side edges are mediallyinwardly offset for the reception of a tool. Longitudinally spacedfastener receiving apertures are medially formed in the backing plate.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally toimprovements in cleaning and scrubbing devices and it relates moreparticularly to -an improved universal replaceable sponge mop head.

Sponge mops have been widely used for cleaning and scrubbing purposesand these generally include an elongated handle carrying a mountingplate, and a replaceable sponge mop head separably attached to thelmounting plate, the sponge mop head comprising a block of regeneratedcellulose sponge or a foamed soft synthetic organic polymeric material.The attachment between the mounting plate and the mop head should besuch as to permit the simple and rapid replacement of the mop head andyet firmly secure the mop head to the mounting plate in a manner whichwill prevent their separation in normal use. Two types of couplings arecommonly employed for separably connecting the mop head to the mountingplate, one in which screws secure the mop head to the mounting and theother in which the mounting plate is provided with outwardly projectingcoupling buttons having enlarged rectangular heads which are slideablyengaged by slotted female coupling elements. The latter type of couplingmechanism is diflicult and inconvenient in its application and.possesses other disadvantages and drawbacks. Replaceable mop heads havebeen proposed and available for use with both types of mounting platesbut these possess the drawbacks of the latter type of coupling andotherwise leave much to be desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a principal object of the presentinvention to provide an improved cleaning and scrubbing device.

Another object iof the present invention is to provide an improvedsponge mop head.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedreplaceable sponge mop head which may be separably attached to mountingplates provided with various coupling means.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a universalreplaceable sponge mop head characterized by its versatility, widespread application, reliability and ease and convenience of replacement.

The above and other objects of the present invention will becomeapparent from a reading of the following description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawing which illustrates a preferredembodiment there- Mice In a sense the present invention contemplates theprovision of a replaceable sponge mop head comprising a block of spongematerial, a backing plate secured to a face of said block of spongematerial and a pair of 1ongitudinally spaced separable fastenerspositioned on the exposed face of said backing plate and characterizedin that each of said fasteners includes a pair of transversely spacedoutwardly projecting legs, at least one of said legs being transverselyresilient, each of said legs having a projection located thereon spacedfrom the inner end of said leg and having an apex directed toward theother of said legs, each of said projections having inner and outer camdefining faces diverging from said projection apex.

In its preferred form, the backing plate is of rectangular configurationand each of the fastener legs extends longitudinally and has alongitudinal slot in the base thereof to delineate a pair of arms joinedat their outer ends by a cross-piece to provide greater resiliency andfreedom of movement to the fastener leg. The projections are in the formof longitudinal ridges disposed on the cross pieces, the cross-pieceouter edges forming angles with the ridges. Outwardly directed indexingtabs are positioned along the rear edge of the backing plate tofacilitate the proper locating of the mop head on the mounting plate andthe end borders of the backing plate are medially inwardly offset toprovide recesses for the reception of the end of a screw driver tofacilitate the detachment of the mop head from the mounting plate. Thefastener members cooperate with mating rectangular headed couplingbuttons on the mop mounting plate, and longitudinally spaced openingsare medially positioned on the backing plate to permit its attachment byscrews to a corresponding mounting plate.

The improved replaceable mop head is applicable to mop head mountingplates of various types and is easily and rapidly properly attached andseparated, and in its attached position it is firmly secured to themounting plate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is an inside plan View of areplaceable mop head embodying the present invention and an associatedmop head mounting assembly, the mop head being illustrated in aseparated position;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse sectional view thereof, themop head being illustrated in a position attendant to its application tothe mop lmounting assembly;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2, the mop head being illustrated inits attached position;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of section 4 in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 in FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawingwhich illustrates a preferred embodiment of the present invention, thereference numeral 10 generally designates the improved replaceable mophead as employed with a mounting assembly 11 which s Widely used and ofWell known construction. The mounting assembly 11 comprises arectangular mounting plate 12 provided along its rear edge withlongitudinally spaced integrally formed hinge knuckles 13 and aswingable apertured rectangular squeeze plate 14 provided along itslower edge with hinge knuckles 16 interdigitating the knuckles 13 andheld thereto by a hinge rod 17. The squeeze is provided on its outerface with an outwardly directed handle 18.

The mounting plate 12 includes a planar rectangular frame deningperipheral flange 19 having longitudinally spaced recesses or slots 20formed in the rear leg 21 thereof` and located between and separatingsuccessive hinge knuckles 13. A Well 22 is formed in mounting plate 12and is delineated by a rearwardly upwardly inclined bottom wall 23joined along its peripheral edges by upwardly outwardly inclinedperipheral walls to the inner edge of mounting plate frame 19. Bottomwall 23 is also longitudinally upwardly outwardly inclined from itstransverse medial axis.

integrally formed with bottom wall 23 are a pair of longitudinallyspaced male coupling elements or buttons 24 which are medially locatedand in transverse alignment with respective opposite outermost recesses20. Each coupling element 24 comprises a flat horizontal rectangularcoupling head 26 located between the levels of well bottom wall 23 andframe 19 and joined to bottom wall 23 by a pair of legs 27 of lessertransverse dimension than head 26 and diverging downwardly from oppositeend edges of head 26 to bottom wall 23.

The mop head comprises a rearwardly tapering block 28 formed of anysuitable sponge material, for example, regenerated cellulose sponge, andincludes a flat, bottom or outer working face 29 and an opposite flatinner face 34). Secured to the sponge block inner face 30 in anysuitable manner such as by a layer of cement 32 is a rectangular backingplate 33 of lesser dimensions than block face 30 to provide a peripheralborder of block face 30 about the outer edge of backing plate 33. Thebacking plate 33 is formed of a resilient material, advantageously beingstamped and shaped from resilient sheet metal, and has integrally formedtherewith a pair of longitudinally spaced medially located femalecoupling members 34, the center to center distance between couplingmembers 34 being about equal to that between coupling heads 26.

Each of the coupling members 34 includes a pair of transversely spacedoutwardly directed, parallel, longitudinally extending resilient legs 36of S-shaped transverse cross-section, the legs 36 being integrallyformed with and preferably struck from backing plate 33. The outerlongitudinal edges 37 of legs 36 are preferably inclined so as to besubstantially parallel to the proximate face of the associated mountingplate wall 23 when mop head 1t) is attached thereto. Formed in the baseof each leg 36 is a longitudinal slot 38 which extends into base plate33 and increases the resilient flexibility of legs 36 and delineatestherein longitudinally spaced arms 39 connected at their outer ends by across-piece 4t). The crosspieces 40 are curved about longitudinal axesto provide longitudinally extending projections or ridges having apices41 directed toward each other and outwardly diverging cam defining outerfaces 42 and inwardly diverging cam defining inner faces 43. Thetransverse distance between confronting ridge apices 41 is less than thetransverse dimension of coupling head 26 and the transverse distancebetween the free edges of outer cam faces 42 is greater than said headtransverse dimension.

Projecting perpendicularly from the rear edge of backing plate 33 are apair of rectangular positioning or indexing tabs 44 which arelongitudinally spaced a distance corresponding to that between outermostslots and are so related to fastener members 34 that when tabs 44register with slots 20, fastener members 34 register with fastenermembers 24. A medial section 46 of each end border of backing plate 23is inwardly inclined to inwardly offset the corresponding end edgewhereby to afford a space for the reception of a screw driver so as tofacilitate the separation of the mop head 10 from the mounting plate 12.

The backing plate 33 is reinforced by transversely spaced longitudinallyextending ribs 47 formed therein and the medial section 48 of backingplate 33 is inwardly offset to form a well in the inner face of backingplate 23. A plurality of medially longitudinally spaced couplingapertures 49, symetrically located relative to the transverse axis ofbacking plate 33, are formed in offset section 48 and in backing plate23 between fastener legs 36. Coupling apertures 49 function to engagecorresponding screw fasteners to permit the attachment of the mop head10 to a mop mounting plate employing coupling screws.

Considering the operation of the improved mop head 10 when applied to amounting plate 12, the mop head 10 is attached merely by insertingindexing tabs 44 into outermost notches 20 and then pressing the mophead 10 about the hinge dened by tabs 44 and the forward edges ofnotches 2t) so that fastener members 34 bear on fastener heads 26. Theedges of fastener heads 26 engage fastener outer cam faces 42 to spreadlegs 36 and permit the passage of heads 26 past ridge apices 42 untilbacking plate 33 and mounting plate 23 are in firm abutment and aremaintained therein by the engagement of fastener head 26 by the innercam faces 43. Lateral movement of the mop head 10 relative to themounting plate 12 is limited by the indexing tabs 44- in slots Ztl.

Separation of the mop head 10 from the mounting assembly 11 isaccomplished by inserting the end of a screw driver between a backingplate offset section 46 and mounting plate 12 and twisting or tiltingthe screw driver to separate the respective borders of backing plate 33and mounting plate 12 whereby to separate the backing and mountingplates in the area of the separable fasteners 24 and 34, the head 26spreading the fastener legs 36 by acting on the inner cam faces 43 topermit the passage of the head 26 outwardly past the ridge apices 41.The other pair of fasteners are similarly uncoupled, if not previouslyuncoupled, by twisting a screw driver between the opposite offsetsection 46 and the mounting plate 12 to Complete the detachment of themop head 10 from the mounting assembly 11.

Where the mop head 1t) is to be screw coupled to a correspondingmounting plate, apertures 49 are employed for this purpose in the knownmanner.

While there has been described and illustrated a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention, it is apparent that numerous alterations,additions and omissions may be made without departing from the spiritthereof.

What is claimed is:

1. A replaceable sponge mop head comprising a block of sponge material,a backing plate secured to a face of said block of sponge material and apair of longitudinally spaced separable fasteners positioned on theexposed face of said backing plate and characterized in that each ofsaid fasteners includes a pair of transversely spaced outwardlyprojecting legs, at least one of said legs being transversely resilientand having a longitudinally extending opening formed in the base thereofto delineate a pair of spring arms projecting from said backing plateand a cross-piece connecting the outer ends of said spring arms, each ofsaid legs having a projection located thereon spaced from the inner endof said leg and having an apex directed toward the other of said legs,each of said projections having inner and outer cam dening facesdiverging from said projections apex and said projection on saidresilient leg being disposed on said cross-piece.

2. The replaceable sponge mop head of claim 1 wherein each of saidfastener legs is transversely resilient and is integrally formed withsaid backing plate and has a longitudinal slot formed in the basethereof to delineate a pair of longitudinally spaced spring armsprojecting from said backing plate and a cross-piece connecting theouter ends of said spring arms, each of said projections comprising alongitudinally extending ridge formed on and extending along the lengthof said cross-piece.

3. The replaceable sponge mop head of claim 2 in which a plurality oflongitudinally spaced apertures are medially formed in said backingplate.

4. The replaceable sponge mop head of claim 2 wherein said backing plateis of rectangular configuration and has a portion of an end borderthereof inwardly offset for the reception of a tool.

5. The replaceable sponge mop head of claim 2 including an indexingelement positioned along a border of said backing plate.

6. The replaceable sponge mop head of claim 2 wherein said backing plateis of rectangular conguration and including a pair of longitudinallyspaced inwardly directed locating tabs positioned along a longitudinaledge of said backing plate.

7. The replaceable sponge mop head of claim 5 Wherein the outer edge ofeach of said cross-pieces is at an angle to the corresponding apexthereof.

8. A replaceable sponge mop head comprising a block of sponge material,a. backing plate secured to a face of said block of sponge material anda pair of longitudinally spaced separable fasteners positioned on theexposed face of said backing plate and characterized in that each Y ofsaid fasteners includes a pair of transversely spaced outwardlyprojecting legs, at least one of said legs be- 20 diverging from theapex of said ridge and the outer edge of said leg being at an angle tosaid ridge apex.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 665,672 1/1901 Downey 248-226 EUX 1,055,350 3/1913 Nixon 34-95.2 2,469,451 5/ 1949 Burrus 248-316 D X2,632,192 3/1953 Mallory 15-119 A 2,840,839 7/ 1958 Benedetti 15-244 A X3,008,164 11/1961 Herman et al. 15--244 R X 3,457,579 7/ 1969 Shea15-244 R X FOREIGN PATENTS 132,501 5/1949 Australia 15--403 DANIEL BLUM,Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 248-226 E

